Um, there have been so many great posts here already, not sure if I can add much...

Protein powder: better than not having enough protein in your diet! Common recommendations have a pretty wide range, but I generally feel pretty comfortable around the 1-1.5g/kg of bodyweight (or 1g/lb of lean bodyweight) for total daily protein consumption. For me, a protein powder helps bring my average of ~70g up to ~100g, which is a better range for me personally.

Artificial sweeteners: most of the alcohol sugars (ie. 'refined' stuff) can actually do more damage to your insulin response than we realize - in some cases, long-term use is comparable to just using table sugar! Pure stevia has a pretty strong licorice flavour. I enjoy using natural sweetener sources in MODERATION (I put that in capitals because I often forget ). Eg. honey, molasses, date sugar, etc.

Bread: make your own! Or try to find a good local bakery that allows their dough to rise naturally (real sourdough) and even better if they grind their own flour! The starches in bread CAN create stalls in weight loss (its a kind of refined carbohydrate, afterall); however, you need to decide how to balance the macronutrients in YOUR lifestyle so that you still enjoy food but can make good choices for long-term weight loss.

A few interesting books I sometimes reference for whole food eating are: The Jungle Effect (Daphne Miller) and Deep Nutrition (Catherine Shanahan). Best of luck, we're all here supporting you!